Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has been repeatedly accused of evading Tuesday night as she appeared before a special joint committee of lawmakers and senators to reconsider the government’s first use of powers contained in the federal emergency law. The Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs all expressed strong frustration throughout Ms Freeland’s 1.5-hour appearance. “Anyone watching this committee right now can see that you are simply refusing to answer very basic questions. “It’s almost contemptible,” said NDP MP Matthew Green, whose party is part of a parliamentary co-operation agreement with the Liberal minority government. “I’m not sure it’s right to call a fellow MP contemptuous,” Freeland said. (Mr Green later apologized, saying he wanted to be contemptuous.) It was a common refrain. At one point, Bloc MP Rhéal Fortin accused Freeland of “wasting our time”, while Conservative lawmakers repeatedly said that Freeland, who is also deputy prime minister, did not answer direct questions. The bill was invoked Feb. 14 in response to a weekly protest in downtown Ottawa that saw large trucks block the city streets just south of Parliament Hill. Similar protests took place at various border crossings in Canada that month, causing costly trade disruptions. The protesters were largely opposed to government restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic. A massive police operation cleared the streets of Ottawa four days after the law was invoked and powers were revoked on February 23. Opposition parties have repeatedly demanded that the minister provide financial information or advice to the public service that justified the government’s decision to invoke the law. Instead, the minister referred to the strong concerns expressed by Canadian businessmen at the time. Ms Freeland said the border closures by protesters opposed to the pandemic earlier this year risked permanent damage to Canada’s integrated trade relationship with the United States. “I was very concerned about the damage to our trade relationship with the United States and our reputation as a credible partner,” he said. The minister said Canadian business leaders often warned her of the financial damage of the blockades, and U.S. politicians increasingly pointed to the holidays and called for less cross-border trade. “These exclusions, this illegal occupation, were the perfect event designed to make it easier for American protectors to close their market to us,” he said. The invocation of the law gave the police the power to designate certain areas, such as central Ottawa and certain border crossings, as restricted areas where protesters could be arrested. However, one of the most controversial uses of the special powers was to freeze the bank accounts of those who took part in the protests. Ms Freeland said on Tuesday that the emergency measures had led to the freezing of some 280 financial products, including bank accounts, credit cards and credit lines, worth a total of about $ 8 million. The minister said another 170 bitcoin addresses had been located and notified to virtual currency exchangers. The accounts were blocked based on a list of names compiled by the RCMP. The Canadian Bankers Association said a “small number” of additional accounts were frozen based on reviews from the banks themselves. The RCMP said in February that the account freeze had been used to encourage protesters to abandon illegal demonstrations. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Michel Arcand told the Communities Finance Committee in March that the government had a direct impact, causing some people to leave for fear that their accounts would freeze. The biggest political issue to date during the commission’s review was Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino’s earlier claim that the law was invoked on the advice of law enforcement. Many police forces have since testified that they did not specifically urge the government to invoke the law. Mr Mendicino’s deputy minister, Rob Stewart, told the special committee last week that the minister had been “misunderstood” and that police had asked for the tools contained in the law. The Joint Committee study is required under the Emergency Accountability Act, which became law in 1988. It replaced the War Measures Act, which was enacted in 1914 and has been used only three times in Canadian history: during the two world wars and during the October 1970 crisis involving terrorist attacks in Quebec. In addition to the joint committee study, the law requires a separate investigation to review the matter and issue a report within 360 days of the revocation of the declaration of emergency. Prime Minister Justin Trinto announced in April that Judge Paul Rollo would be the commissioner of the Public Order Emergency Committee. For subscribers only: Receive exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to Political information.
